... (Web Cam image, Dark
at Night, Day photos below.)Ice Tower
Large Format Sculpture, by John
Reeves ... (Web Cam image, Dark
at Night, Day photos below.)
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Fairbanks Alaska Freeform Ice Art, 2007-08
The Castle Tower
Water was turned off 1 April. Height from the base of the ice cliff to the top of the tower was 176 feet.
The current report: The carefully planned melt phase of the artwork is in full production for your viewing interest. For this phase of the artwork, John the ice artist is utilizing both ambient air temperature and direct sunlight to sculpt intriguing new details that accent in reverse format the process of creating an ice tower. The noticeably subtle alterations each day combine to compose a kinetic artwork that can be seen as a slow motion transformation by the imaginative mind, or something like that.
Really big art by Big John Reeves can be made in the far frozen north.
As poet Robert Service said: "There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold."
They get stranger in the winter, for lack of sun, when the pay dirt freezes, not so fun.
At a particularly cold spot, over the first hill north of Fairbanks, the richest cut of local pay dirt played-out back in the early days. Now what? An imaginative Alaskan artist combined the winter, a supply of water, some pipe and an array of varied nozzles.
It may be the largest man made art form in the realm, by size, weight, or some measure. It gets larger every day, until the spring thaw.
In addition to its visual image at a distance, the intricacies of its forms and added colors complexify as one gets closer, and then more so inside its icicle caverns. Water sprayed into the air, then flowing over its own freezing surfaces, creates stunning images.
The sequence of this year's closer photos are on the Ice Tower pages linked below.
Note to climbers (or their spouses). The Alaskan Alpine Club, with international members, is cobbling together its permanent headquarters. If you want to donate any cool old climbing gear, or new stuff, for decor or the museum, we will put your name and date on the item, any related story in the archives, and you will always be welcome at the headquarters, which you will be anyway. You might even see some of your old equipment that you thought you lost back when you had that argument with your spouse, about climbing too much. In another hundred years, climbers will think that old gear is even cooler, and know that a person with your name was a cool old climber back then.
For the night folks:
29 March.
16 February
6 February
3 February
26 January
The Ice Crew has been informed that the Ice Climbers for a Nuclear Winter (ICNW) have established a political coalition with the Concerned Citizens for Climate Consistency (CCCC). Their goal is to stop the catastrophic seasonal climate changes that currently threaten frozen lakes and rivers, mountain snow packs, ski resort economic stability, ice towers and other critical frozen resources. Lacking sufficient governmental intervention in a timely manner, entire bird populations could invade areas not occupied by them even weeks ago. Emerging rodent populations are predicted. Potential temperature fluxuations from current norms are no less than frightening. The delicate environmental balance between ice and water could shift dramatically from one pole to the other.
They suggest that either they receive sufficient donations to influence seasonal government policy, especially during the current election season, or whole families may be forced to alter their outdoor activities in the coming weeks.
The scientific community discussing these threats is currently divided between tipping the earth's axis up to a more vertical position, requiring only a fulcrum of sufficient mass and specific positioning, and a few other details, therefore stabilizing the ice relationship after an adjustment period, or simply stopping earth's rotation at a desirable position. The latter only requires enough people pushing against the current spin. While the nuclear option causes some uneasiness among certain factions, it remains on the table and discussed in positive terms by the nation's highest office, where many people hope its fallout is confined. Expect greater public reaction to this critical environmental issue as ice literally melts out from under the crampons of the common people on the ice.
Missed the action? A progression of 07-08 photos are on the 07-08 Ice Tower pages linked below.
Previous year photos and more information are on the Ice Tower pages, linked below.
Check the winter webcam view of the Lycksele Ice Tower. (dark at night)
Ice Tower contest...
Details on the IceTowers page
The serious Alaska adventure clothing and fabric equipment manufacturers in Fairbanks Alaska, of all places, brings you this web cam page.
The photo to the left is in the Apocalypse Design research and development laboratory. They keep a glacier over the top of it.
FairbanksGoldCo.com, The full info on the ice tower site and more. Cool film of unearthing a mastodon tusk and another fossil bone from another planet.
AlaskaStories.com Alaska mountaineering, caving, kayaking, adventure and other stories, information, photos and rhetorical illusions.
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